Another Grim Tale From Dahr Jamail

The newest post at Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches is called Who Cares? and it's another grim tale.

Suicide bombers unleashed another day of hell across Iraq today, killing at least 18 and wounding over 67.

Four of them struck Iraqi Security forces, along with US military convoys around Baghdad. Despite the huge US-backed Iraqi security operation throughout the capital city, attacks there continue unabated.
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It continues to be clear that the plans of the Bush Administration in Iraq either do not include the protection of Iraqis, they don’t care, or both.
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I received an email from someone today along these lines which I found interesting:

“I operated out of Camp Anaconda, near Balad. What almost everyone, both in uniform and those as contractors, agreed on (was) the objective of the Bush Administration’s long term (plan) is focused primarily on oil. Hearts and minds are secondary, far behind the issue of petroleum products, as the US continues to compete for resources around the world. I hope more media conversation is forthcoming on this issue.”
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Recently, the US-backed Iraqi “government” announced it had detained nearly 900 “suspected militants.” A “suspected militant” in Iraq looks more and more like anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time when Iraqi or US forces conduct an operation.

Of course the looting of homes during raids continues along with the detentions of innocent Iraqis. So much so that as a result of the huge “security” operation in Baghdad, Laith Kuba, a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari found it necessary to make the following statement:

“Some people complained there are cases where soldiers took advantage and helped themselves to cash and other items. One doesn’t rule it out. The complaints I heard from people were the aggressiveness of some of these forces as they do things. Some people have half-hinted that they have copied some of the mannerisms of other foreign troops. I think that is a valid criticism in some cases.”

Please read Who Cares? ... and please bookmark Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches.